Our family recently took a much-needed vacation, our first since ever as a family and our first since we've begun our natural-eating endeavor. It was difficult enough to eat healthy while we were traveling, let alone natural or organic. I gave up on organic and tried mainly for fresh, raw foods like salads. Our bodies and digestive systems are not accustomed to most restaurant fare, and after a couple of days, we were feeling the ill-effects of such food. Thankfully, we spent most of our time in a well-equipped condo with a full kitchen. The first night there, I made a simple batch of spaghetti -- nothing special -- and James said, "I can't believe that cooking ground beef smells this good." Despite the sub-par ground beef and the canned (albeit organic) spaghetti sauce, it was one of the best tasting plates of spaghetti I've ever eaten.

I was especially curious to see how the girls responded to the all of the restaurant food versus food from our kitchen. After two days, they were hankering for a peanut butter and honey sandwich which they gladly ate for dinner at the condo that first night. The next morning, they both ate bananas even though neither one of the kids has eaten a banana at home for months (after suddenly declaring one day, "I don't like bananas anymore"). It's amazing how fresh-fruit deprivation affected them!

I did learn that whenever we vacation somewhere, we definitely need a kitchen. This kind of makes me laugh because whenever I'd go on vacation as a child, my mother would make a point to NOT cook at all costs -- and here I am the exact opposite.

The following recipe has helped us get back into our natural and organic diet. It's light, fresh and full of flavor -- a great combination for summer.

2. Prep the vegetables: slice the zucchini 1/4 in. thick lengthwise. On a large baking sheet, baste the zucchini with 2 Tablespoons olive oil on each side and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Core the tomatoes and slice 1/4 in. thick. Salt and pepper each slice.

3. Grill the vegetables, turning once, until slightly charred and tender, about 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, bring a stockpot full of water to a boil and cook cappellini until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water, then drain pasta.

4. Slice grilled zucchini into 1-inch pieces and tomatoes into 1/2-inch pieces and place in a large bowl. Add sun dried tomatoes and remaining 2 Tablespoons olive oil. Add pasta and toss to coat. If needed, use reserved pasta water in small amounts at a time to loosen cappellini.

5. Combine basil and Parmesan to pasta and toss to coat. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

Well, tomatoes continue to dominate my life at the moment. Although I will confess that today I am enjoying a break from simmering, cutting, peeling or ladling tomatoes of any kind (I gave away 20 pounds or so to my father so he could do his own arduous tomato work). Meanwhile, the garden is still bursting with soon-to-be ripe fruits so I know I will be toiling away in the kitchen once again in the near future.

So far, our tomatoes have allowed us to can whole tomatoes, salsa, pizza sauce, marinara sauce, tomato sauce and ketchup. Okay, the ketchup was kind of a bust. It was the first time we have attempted anything like that (I'm new to the canning/freezing world), and although I love to make my own foods, it's safe to say that ketchup is not really worth making in our own kitchen. Eight pounds of tomatoes yielded maybe 6-8 ounces of ketchup when it was all said and done -- two tiny containers that I plopped in the freezer. There's nothing more dissatisfying than putting a lot of time, energy and physical labor into a project only to get a tiny bit of product in the end.

For those of you out there looking to use seasonal ingredients to make large batches of sauces for freezing, here's a great pizza sauce recipe. We love making homemade pizzas here, and now I'm so glad I have cans of homemade pizza sauce at my finger tips (instead of having to make it each time I make a pizza). Although time-consuming for a day, making this up and freezing or canning the portions ultimately saves you time down the road. So roll up your sleeves, grab a large bucket of tomatoes and get cooking!

1. Heat oil in a large stockpot. Add onion and cook until softened, 5-8 minutes. Add garlic and tomato paste and cook about 1 minute until lightly brown and fragrant. Stir in tomatoes, oregano, bay leaf, sugar, salt, and pepper.

2. Bring to a simmer then reduce heat to medium-low. Continue to cook uncovered at a simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thickened to desired consistency, 1-2 hours. Salt and pepper to taste.

3. If freezing: allow sauce to cool for 30 minutes, place into freezer containers, chill in the refrigerator then freeze. If canning: follow instructions for your pressure cooker.

*If desired, tomatoes can also be peeled before being processed. To do so, bring a large stock pot with water to a low boil. Meanwhile, fill a clean sink with ice water and score the bottom of the tomatoes with an"X" using a sharp knife. Place a few tomatoes into the boiling water at a time. Allow to cook for 30-60 seconds until skins start to peel away or crack. Remove tomatoes and place in sink filled with ice water. Repeat until all the tomatoes have been blanched. Using a paring knife, easily peel the skin off the tomatoes.

Wow, I've taken quite a hiatus from blogging lately. Our family took a much-needed and long-awaited vacation for a little over a week and we just got back a few days ago. My head is still spinning trying to get everyone settled back into our little routine while powering through the days in a sleepy fog. Why is that vacations seem to make you more tired than before you left?

Well, we came home to a garden bursting with ripe tomatoes. My mother-in-law had already canned numerous pints of tomatoes and salsa while we were gone, and our plants were still yielding a large amount of fruit. Yesterday was Pizza Sauce Day (16 servings all canned up) and today is Marinara Day. Actually, I have a few more Marinara Days in my future, but that's okay. It's not real hard to make and although it's time consuming, most of if is just letting the pot simmer so the sauce reduces down and thickens. Then I divide the sauce up into 24-oz containers to put them into the freezer once they've chilled in the refrigerator. Three containers down and many more to go from the looks of the tomato plants. They're not giving up any time soon.

For those of you who want to do this recipe but don't have a stockpile of tomatoes growing in your backyard, check out a local farmer's market or fruit market for baskets of tomatoes. Locally, we have an Amish fruit market that sells large baskets of "canning" tomatoes for very little money.

1. Prep the vegetables: Cut the tomatoes into quarters, remove the thick stem part inside and seed. Place tomatoes in a food processor and pulse 5-8 times to desired consistency. Place processed tomatoes in a large bowl and repeat until all of the tomatoes have been put through the food processor. Cut the onion into quarters and pulse in the food processor to desired consistency.

2. In a large stockpot or dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until softened 8-10 minutes. Add garlic and tomato paste and continue to cook until lightly browned. Add the tomatoes, sugar, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Bring to a simmer then reduce heat to medium-low, continuing to simmer lightly.

3. Cook 2 1/2 to 4 hours until sauce has reached desired thickness and consistency. At this time, add any additional salt, pepper or sugar to taste.

4. Allow sauce to cool for 20 minutes, then divide into containers. Let sauce cool another 30 minutes then place in the refrigerator. Once chilled, freeze sauce.